Don’t Leave Milk Out,

and other adult things I learned. After 45 minutes of cleaning old milk out of my hydro flask, I pondered all the other adulty things I’ve learned this week. Like the fact that I can’t eat fried chicken every day and it isn’t a very good idea to make a quesadilla in the microwave without a plate or napkin underneath it. Note: It still tasted delicious. Another thing I learned is that asking for help is one of the best tools I have in my toolbox because this week wouldn’t have happened without the help of my friends, family, and professors. I got an A on my first college essay!

Gratitue Corner

This week I am grateful for finding an amazing group of Christians on campus; CORE. A heart-filled group with Worship and Bible Study outside on Tuesday nights and a carpool to Menlo Church on Sundays! Blessed.

Week 2 Room Two,

I moved! Originally I was in a dorm complex called Swig. This dorm happened to be full of sorority girls and drinkers, including my roommate who would consistently come home drunk past 1am every night. After a week I found a friend, Betsy, who was in the same position. We both stormed over to housing and demanded we get moved and while stating our case we realized we both had a passion for the arts, children, and community service. Later we realized we share a love for Michael Buble and have identical backpacks and hangers. The moral of the story is that we have moved into the Christian dorm, San Filippo, and are having the time of our lives as roommates. We do everything together from homework and singing to playing ping pong and pool in the media rooms. I came, we found, and Betsy and I conquered.

I Saw Othello and He Yelled at Me

With a group of 9 other Santa Clara University Theatre Majors, we piled into two cars and made the 90-minute trek over to Berkeley to see the Shakespeare’s Othello at the California Shakespeare Theater (Cal Shakes). Normally you don’t find a group of college kids going to see Shakespeare but when your professor, Aldo Billingslea, is starring as Othello, it’s a no-brainer. So we got a group together, disperse ourselves throughout the audience (I was in the second row) and surprised him. We had no idea what to expect except the roaring reviews, but I had an experience of my own. For those of you that don’t know, I met Aldo Billingslea in the summer between my Junior and Senior year of high school at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival Summer Seminar which changed my life. Aldo and I hit it off and he became one of the biggest role models and mentor for me as a senior in high school. Recently, he became the man who twisted arms with the Dean of SCU and found a $50,000 scholarship for me (dispersed across 4 years) so I could afford to be a bucking bronco. Not only is it inspiring to see your friend, mentor, professor, and academic advisor doing what he loves, but it’s his portrayal of Othello that brought me to gleaming smiles and puddles of tears. Aldo commands that stage, and Othello starts as a man who is madly in love. But when caving into believing a lie, he falls through depression, bouts of rage and sadness and kills his wife who was wrongly accused of cheating on him. There was a moment on stage when Othello, Aldo Billingslea, had tears streaming down his face and he was screaming to the heavens. Next thing I knew we had locked eyes and he charged straight towards me in a search of desperation for anyone, anything, that could bring back his beloved wife. It was a true gift to be an audience member and share such a tender moment with a man who has changed my life.